Sunday, February 26, 2012

Decorative ceramic Celtic moon tile

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8x8 relief carved Celtic moon woman ceramic tile

One Night in Spain ( Full Moon at the Bullfight )

Tonight, the moon howls at the dogs; her silent screams
echo in their dungeon dreams
where wild ancestors pace the dust
of ageless patience for their prison walls
to slowly crumble, one day surely fall,
as all the worlds walls one day must

Pale the naked moonlight shines with empty lust
for all that she can never touch;
her shadows and the distant sun,
niggardly that grants her few weak beams,
enough to stir up dog’s and lover’s dreams
yet leave her barren still; the lifeless one

Just once, just once to stand beside the primal fire
its touch to melt her cold desire;
to swoop down from the astral plane
and hunt the fugitive pleasures of
mortality; hunger, fear; just once to love
and quaff its bitter ferments, hate and shame

As on the firmament now tilts her rays to rise,
from sultry summer loft she spies
blood ritual below, in final spurt:
then with obscene and desperate delight
entwines her glare within the fierce arc-light
and hurls it at the sacrificial dirt

The tortured bull, on seas of leaden agony adrift,
to submerge it’s only wish,
through twisted catacombs of mind
has crawled for shadowed corner, there to hide,
there to face alone the rushing tide;
for peace, if only with last breath, to find
In poor mockery of passion moon flings her spiteful rays

uselessly into the fray

Off sword and mirrored suit they fly,
shattered and unseen, except by chance
one single, thin, illuminating lance
finds it,s target true; the round bull’s-eye

Bloodied and supine, the beast, of rage bereft;
its eyes, though darkening windows, yet
still admit that slender shaft;
by which chaste lunar glow is there revealed,
in that last refuge, dim memories
of moonlit summer meadow, cow and calf

Softly now through time the bull’s lost life subsides
back unto the other side
In tranquility the beast now lies,
and innocent again with mother near,
her gentle lowing sounding in his ear
The bull takes one last loving look, and dies

Poor moon, frustrated still by what she’ll never know
Takes her sluggish tides in tow
And scribes her lonely arc above the earth
Tugging at the hearts of beasts and men
Though how, she cannot ever comprehend
For she feels not our pull, so strong though we feel hers

J. A. Gresham

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Relief carved Celtic heart ceramic tile


6x6 Celtic Knot & heart tile
Available at earthsongtiles.com

The very ancient festival of lupercalia, February 13-15 in honor of Lupercus, god of sheperds and partly in honor of Lupa, the she wolf that suckled the orphans Remus & Romulus, founders of Rome, is said by some to be the origin of Valentines day. In Roman tradition the festival began with the Luperci (brothers of the wolf) priests. Foreheads smeared in sacrificial blood wiped from the knife with milk soaked wool, wearing only a goat skin, they would circle the city of Rome hitting women who lined the route with shaggy goat thongs. This was believed to ensure the barren fertility and the pregnant easy deliveries. Another of the festivities included eligable men drawing maiden's names from an urn, who they would pair with for the remainder of the festival and sometimes longer. Around 496 AD Pope Gelasias, feeling that this pairing of couples was not in keeping with the Christian teachings, ended the festival and replaced it with St. Valentines day whom he declared the patron saint of lovers (that being a whole other story) February 14 then became the day for men to draw the names of saints from the urn and spend the following year emulating their drawn saint. This practice fizzled out and by the 15th century Valentines day had returned to coupling eligable singles. Attemps to revive the saint pairing later never caught on.During medieval chivalry days the Valentines custom was to draw names in pairs, the man then wearing his chosen name on his sleeve, honor bound to attend and protect her. The 17th century saw the custom of exchanging elaborate hand made cards with flowery verse. Pre fabricated cards and a reduction in postal rates in 1797 ushered in the practice of mailing Valentine cards. Suddenly, most likely due to the anonimity of the mail, great numbers of racey, sexually suggestive cards began to appear. A great stir was caused amongst the prudish Victorians and several countries actually banned the exchange of cards due to the large number of obscene Valentines circulating. In the late 19th century the Chicago post office rejected tens of thousands of cards as not being fit to be carried through the US mail. Valentine cards were not to be stopped and today February 14, jokingly refered to as a 'hallmark' holiday has the highest sale of cards than any other day of the year and I'm sure there's a good smattering of sexually suggestive ones among them. So Happy Lupercalia!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Decorative relief carved Celtic ceramic tile willow tree set

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10 x 21 three piece relief carved, ceramic Celtic willow tree set
Available at earthsongtiles.com

The willow tree figures prominently in the mythology and folklore of many cultures, associated to the feminine lunar rhythms of life and utilized throughout history for healing, tools and spirituality. It is a symbol of romantic love, healing, protection and fertility. Along with the hazel and birch, willow is known to be one of the best woods for water divining and the bark has been used for it's pain relieving qualities since ancient times.
In the Celtic tradition February is the month of the willow which has long had an association with Pagan rituals involving the enhancement of psychic abilities, to connect with intuition, dreams and visions and to poeticly inspire writing, music & images.
A tree of dreaming, inspiration and enchantment.
Sacred to the moon.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Decorative relief carved ceramic crocus tile

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3x3 ceramic relief carved crocus tile
Available at earthsongtiles.com

Imbolc, the ancient pagan festival of the lactating ewes, celebrated on the 2 of February marks the center point between fall equinox and summer solstice, the dark half of the year. A time to prepare for growth and renewal by blessing seeds & tools and paying homage to the dieties of fertility, especially the goddesses in their maiden aspect. Hearth fires are doused and rekindled and candles lit to honor the strenthening of the sun. Ibolc is a sacred day of the goddess Brighid who's snake emerges from the womb of the earth mother to test the weather, this being the origin of ground hog day. The crocus, being a member of the iris family, associated with Eos, Venus & Aphrodite as well as the sun, mars, leo & fire is one of the traditional decorations used to celebrate Imolc.